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Canada starts competition for backup guard job in win over Argentina

Finding a reliable backup to Cory Joseph, who is expected to log big minutes for Canada when the FIBA Americas Olympic qualifying begins next week, is the most pressing need for Canada.

Andrew Wiggins, playing with Canada's men's senior team for the first time, had a team-high 18 points in a win over Argentina at the Tuto Marchand Cup in Puerto Rico. (Andrew Francis Wallace / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

It didn’t take long for Jay Triano to try to find out what kind of point guard depth he has on the Canadian senior men’s basketball team.

In the squad’s first outing, the head coach gave presumptive starting point guard Cory Joseph of the Raptors the day off as Canada hung on to beat Argentina 85-80 in the opening game of the Tuto Marchand Cup tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Phil Scrubb, the former Carleton University standout heading into his first season in Europe, started and finished the game and Olivier Hanlan made his senior team debut as a backup to begin Canada’s season.

Finding a reliable backup to Joseph, who is expected to log big minutes for Canada when the FIBA Americas Olympic qualification tournament begins in a week, is the most pressing need for Canada in the Marchand Cup. The team will play four games against opponents it will meet again in Mexico City, starting a week Monday.

Scrubb, a perennial CIS all-star at Carleton University, started Sunday and logged 28 minutes, finishing with 12 points, three assists and five rebounds.

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Hanlan, a second-round NBA draft pick who has signed with BC Zalgiris of the Lithuanian league, had seven points and two steals in 12 minutes.

Determining who backs up Joseph — and that job may only entail 10 minutes a night once the Olympic qualification event begins — is one of the main tasks this week in Puerto Rico. Triano has to make decisions on playing times and roles quickly.

Despite Sunday’s win, Canada wilted a bit under some pressure defence in the final few minutes and almost saw a 15-point lead disappear in the final quarter.

Not much should be made of the ultimate result since both teams were keeping things close to the vest in a truly meaningless exhibition to kick off the five-team Marchand tournament.

While Triano said last week he wanted to use the tuneup event to find a solid playing rotation to take to Mexico, he made liberal use of the entire roster.

Eleven of the 12 players who dressed played — centre Robert Sacre didn’t — and the minutes were mostly evenly distributed.

Anthony Bennett, continuing the strong play he showed during the Pan Am Games, played 33 minutes with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Those minutes were the most by any Canadian; the fewest were the nine minutes logged by foul-plagued forward Andrew Nicholson.

Ten of the 11 players scored — only Aaron Doornekamp didn’t — and Andrew Wiggins, also making his first appearance with Canada’s senior squad, had a team-high 18 points.

Argentina was led by Raptors forward and veteran international Luis Scola, who had 23 points and eight rebounds. The 34-year-old, who has been playing for his country for more than a decade, is one of two long-time Argentine veterans who will be counted on heavily to lead team. One-time NBAer Andres Nocioni also had 23 points for the South Americans.

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